Fishing is an extremely popular pastime. A key component of a successful fishing venture is the ability to tie knots. It is well known that most fish are lost because of a badly tied line or the failure of a knot.
A significant problem with attaching fish-hooks to line is associated with the fact that a fisherman has to thread the line through a small opening. This can be difficult, especially on a boat or in inclement weather.
Once the line has been threaded through the opening, the line must be tied. There are a number of different ways that are used to tie a knot in the line. Examples of some knots are the trilene knot, the clinch knot, the improved clinch knot, the palomar knot, the orvis knot and many others. All these knots require the winding of line and subsequently passing the line through an opening defined by the winding. This task can be both difficult and time-consuming. Inclement conditions and/or boat-based fishing add to the problem.
Even without such conditions, many beginners find it difficult to learn how to tie an effective knot. Applicant believes that this often bars potential newcomers to the pastime. As recreational fishermen become older, they also find it difficult to tie the required knots.
These problems are not limited to recreational fishing. Commercial fishermen who use lines and fish-hooks spend much time preparing their lines. Most of this time is taken up at attaching fish-hooks to the line. These fishermen use knots like the trilene knot and the clinch knot to attach fish-hooks to line. Long-line fishing requires a large number of knots per line. In spite of the large number of devices and apparatuses described in the patents cited below, the commercial fishermen still use the conventional knots described above.
Applicant submits that the reason for this is that the devices and apparatus are either difficult to manufacture or do not provide the strength characteristics of the conventional knots. This is significant since long-line fishermen often have to attach hooks as fast as possible and in heavy seas. Long-line fishing require the deployment of many kilometers of lines with hundreds of fish-hooks attached to the lines. In some case, the lines can extend for up to 30 kilometers or more. These are attached to sophisticated reeling machines. It will be appreciated that the attachment of fish-hooks to such lines can be extremely time-consuming. It is clear that any running repairs should be carried out as quickly as possible. It follows that a means for reducing downtime is desirable.
The simplification of knot-tying has been the object of a number of patents. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,984,882 dated May 23, 1951 to R. W. Winn shows a line connector. The line connector allows a fish-hook to be fastened to a line without a conventional knot. This apparatus relies on the principle of using at least one closed loop through which the line is passed and then wound about itself on a straight shank. The line is trapped in a loop at one end of a shank. This apparatus does not avoid the problems of having to pass a line through a loop. Furthermore, the act of trapping the line in the loop at the end of the shank also requires some dexterity.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,604,143 dated Sep. 14, 1971 to Sauers discloses a fish-hook with a shank that defines a pair of spaced openings. The line is fastened to the fish-hook by passing the line through one opening, wrapping the line about a portion of the shank between the openings and passing the line through the other opening. The line is then wrapped over the previously wrapped line and passed through the initial opening again. Clearly, this requires the line to be passed through two openings. Applicant submits that this simply results in the fisherman having to pass the line through two openings. As a result, the problems associated with passing the line through an opening are duplicated. These problems have been set out above.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,848,354 to Austad et al discloses a quick tie device. The device is a convoluted arrangement of loops. One of the loops defines a winding post while the other defines a guide loop through which the line is passed. The winding loop extends generally at right angles to the direction in which the line extends. This device requires a complicated winding procedure. It is also necessary to pass the line through a loop. Applicant therefore submits that it is difficult to see how this device provides any improvement over a conventional knot. Further, Applicant believes that the manufacture of the device would require complicated wire bending equipment. This would result in the device being expensive to manufacture; especially on a large scale.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,092,796 dated Jun. 6, 1978 to Adams discloses a fish-hook that does not include an eyelet. Instead, an end portion of the shank is flattened and bent over into a U-shape. The end portion defines a slot. A line can be positioned in the slot. The line is held in the slot if a suitable knot is made at the end of the line. The know must be too large to pass through the slot. A primary disadvantage of this apparatus is that it is necessary to tie a knot in the line. Further, Applicant believes that such an arrangement is inherently weak. Line material is known to deform under pressure. In the event that extreme tension is set up in the line, Applicant believes that the knot would simply deform and pass through the slot.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,294,031 dated Oct. 13, 1981 to Manno discloses a fish-hook that does require the tying of a knot. The fish-hook has an eyelet at an end of the shank. The shank defines a T-shaped projection. The line is passed through the eyelet and wrapped around the projection. This apparatus suffers the disadvantage of requiring the line to be passed through an eyelet. These are discussed above. Further, a fisherman has to remember to wrap the line a required number of times about the projection. This is a disadvantage in hurried, commercial applications.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,535,582 dated Aug. 20, 1985 to Fry discloses a fish-hook that also does not include an eyelet. Instead, the fish-hook is designed so that a line that already has a loop at its end can be attached to the fish-hook. The disadvantage here is that the line requires some preparation before it can be attached to the fish-hook. This could clearly be as time-consuming as fastening the line to the fish-hook in the conventional manner.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,905,403 dated Mar. 6, 1990, also to Manno, discloses a loop fastening method and device. The device in one embodiment is a fish-hook. The shank defines an eyelet at one end and an open loop between the eyelet and the bend. The line is looped over, passed over the open loop, wrapped about the shank and passed through the eyelet. This device retains the disadvantage that the line needs to be passed through a loop. An outstanding portion of the shank is provided to assist a fisherman to pass the line through the loop. Applicant believes that this portion would have the tendency to snag when the device is used in difficult conditions. Doubling the line and drawing the line over the open loop would also be difficult to do in heavy seas, in commercial applications. Still further, a fisherman has to remember to wrap the line a certain number of times about the shank between the open loop and the eyelet. This is a disadvantage in hurried and difficult situations.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,279,067 dated Jan. 18, 1994 to Tollison describes a fish-hook that does not have an eyelet. An end of the shank is bent over to define a narrow U-shape. The line is positioned along the shank and then wound over itself. Pulling on the line causes it to become bunched in the gap defined by the U-shape. A problem with this apparatus is that it requires manual dexterity in positioning the line before wrapping it over the portion positioned against the shank. Again, this is a disadvantage in situations where the working conditions are difficult. The applicant has found that bunching of line under tension is one of the reasons why knots and other forms of attachment fall.
This invention is directed to a fish-hook and to a connecting device that addressed the disadvantages highlighted by the description of the prior art.
Reference may be made to U.S. Pat. No. 5,537,776 which describes a fishing line connector having a shank and a coiled member defined by a plurality of uniformly spaced contiguous co-axial coils arranged in longitudinally extending relation and having an axial opening therethrough and an open ended eye loop. The problems as described above of passing a fishing line through the eyelet as discussed above with U.S. Pat. No. 4,294,031 are also applicable.
Reference is also made to U.S. Pat. No. 5,809,687 which relates to a method of tying a fishing hook or line to a fishing hook having a shank with a proximal and distal end. The shank has an angled and spaced apart attachment coils formed on the proximal end. There is also a hooked barb on the distal end. The method of tying is extremely complicated involving four separate steps. Also there is no means on the fishing hook to prevent unwinding of the line from the fishing hook and also the problems of passing a line through a loop as discussed above also apply to this reference.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,222,777 refers to fishing tackle with a shank and a closed eye having an attachment arm connected with and extending from the closed eye. The attachment arm is a length of wire in zigzag form and is attached to a fish hook. The fishing tackle is complicated in structure and the disadvantages of using a closed eye or eyelet also apply to this reference as discussed above.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,138,840 refers to a fish hook attaching device which uses a single retaining formation of three turns or volutes at one end of a shank whereby each turn is oriented parallel to the shank. Because of the requirement of three turns this device is unduly complicated and a fishing line must be attached to the retaining formation in a complicated manner because of the orientation of the turns.